Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Cardiac Procedures

In this study, the outcomes of surgical procedures were monitored only during in-hospital treatment. Outcomes were recorded with respect to the rate of post-operative complications (mortality, early reoperation, cerebrovascular insult, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation, AV block, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), wound infection) and hospital cost.
For pharmacoeconomic analysis, the total hospital costs for each operated patient served as the initial parameter. The effectiveness of the procedure was assessed by the percent of patients who had no complications. Incremental effectiveness was calculated as the difference in the effectiveness between the given groups. The results of the pharmacoeconomic analysis were presented as the cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). CER is calculated as the ratio of the cost of each individual therapy (procedure) and its therapeutic effect. ICER is calculated as the ratio of the cost difference of two alternative therapies and the difference in effectiveness between the compared therapies. ICER, in fact, shows the additional costs per unit of additional effectiveness. Outcomes were analyzed separately according to the surgical technique as well as by the type of valve used.
$$\mathrm{CER}=\frac{\mathrm{Cos}\mathrm{t} \mathrm{of} \mathrm{each} \mathrm{individual} \mathrm{procedure} \left(\mathrm{EUR}\right)}{\mathrm{Therapeutic} \mathrm{Effect} }$$
$$\mathrm{ICER}=\frac{\mathrm{Cos}\mathrm{t} \mathrm{difference} \left(\mathrm{EUR}\right)}{\mathrm{Difference} \mathrm{in} \mathrm{Outcome} }$$